Door-opening guard



Jan. 1925- 1,523,393

M. H. GILFOY DOOR OPENING GUARD Filed June 4, 1923 Patented Jan. 13, 1925.

ETED STATES tanner rrie P A T DOOR-OPENING GUARD.

Application filed June 4, 1923. Serial No. 643,473.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MICHAEL H. GILFOY, a. citizen of the United States, residing at Garrison, in the county of McLean and State of North Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door- Opening Guards; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in guards for door openings in floors, which openings are normally closed by hinged doors, the object being to provide an extremely simple and inexpensive, yet a very effective device for guarding the door opening when the door is open, preventing persons from accidentally walking into the opening.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, the description being supplemented by the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 1s a perspective View showing the application of my invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section with the guard in operative position.

Figure 3 is a duplicate of Fig. 2 with the exception that it illustrates the guard in its lowered inoperative position.

In the drawing above briefly described, which illustrates the preferred form of my invention, the numeral 1 designates a door opening in a floor, and at 2, I have illustrated a door for said opening, hingedly mounted at 3. Secured to the edge wall of the opening 1 opposite the hinges 3, is a guide block 4: havinga plurality of vertical guide openings 5 whlch shdably receive an equal plurality of vertlcal rods 6. The lower ends of these rods are rigidly connected by a horizontal plate or other member 7 which may be secured thereto in any preferred manner, while the upper ends of said rods carry a horizontal guard bar 8 also attached in any suitable way. For sake of inexpensive construction, nuts 9 may well be threaded upon the rods 6 in contact wlth the upper and lower sides of the plate 7 and bar 8.

Secured to the guide block 4 or to any other desired part adjacent said block is a cable guide 10 which is preferably in the form of a pulley. A cable 11 is trained over this guide andat 12 has one of its ends connected with the plate 7, the other end of said cable being suitably anchored at 13 to the door 2. The intermediate portion of the cable 11 is preferably trained around an other pulley or cable guide let, located at one end of the opening 1 or at any other desired point. By this arrangement, it being understood that the entire guard S-6-7, is normally lowered as in Fig. 3, opening of the door 2 will pull upwardly upon the plate 7, through the instrumentality of the cable 11, and consequently the guard will be elevated to operative position, simultaneously with opening of said door.

In connection with the features above described, I prefer to provide a pair of flexible end guards in the form of cables, chains or the like 15, secured at their ends to the door 2 and the ends of the bar 8. When the door is open and the bar 8 elevated. the guides 15 are stretched between said door and bar, so that the opening is guarded on all four sides.

As excellent results may be obtained from the details disclosed, these details are preferably followed, but within the scope of the invention as claimed, numerous minor changes may be made.

I claim:

1. A guard for a floor door opening (-o1n-- prising a plurality of vertical rods and guiding means therefor adapted to be secured to the edge wall of the opening oppo site the door hinges, a short horizontal member carried by the lower ends of said rods. a horizontal guard bar carried by the upper ends of said rods, a cable secured at one end to said horizontal member and adapted to have its other end secured to the door, and

' a guide for said cable adapted to be mounted adjacent said guiding means.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1; together with a flexible guard secured at one end to said first named guard and having its other end attached to one end of the door.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

MICHAEL H. GILFOY. 

